Red-Barracuda The Blood Stained Shadow is the second – and last - giallo that Antonio Bido directed. His other one was Watch Me When I Kill (a.k.a. The Cat's Victims). While Bido may never be considered one of the masters of the genre, I actually think his two efforts are rather good and at the very least he should be considered one of the best purveyors of the genre in the late 70's. There are some aspects that do stand out in Bido's gialli, making them distinctive. Firstly, there is a somewhat slightly more serious tone and secondly, and most significantly, both films dispense with young sexy women as murder victims. In fact, in both movies it's middle aged characters that end up as the killer's targets. It might not sound like much to some but it is highly unusual, and both of Bido's gialli follow the same pattern. So hats off to the director for being a little bit different. Other than an obligatory sex scene, The Blood Stained Shadow has really no sleaze factor at all.The story begins with a mysterious slow-motion murder of a young girl. Several years later a maths teacher returns to his home town, where upon a series of murders ensues. Events seem to revolve around a séance group of local bad eggs.This is another one of those occasional gialli that is set in Venice. The off-season spookiness of the canal streets was also used to good effect in films such as Don't Look Now and Who Saw Her Die? This city does give off a unique ambiance, which is once again utilised well. The film also includes several other odd details in its plot that will be familiar to fans of gialli, such as the weird painting, the retarded boy in the cellar and the present being governed by a terrible event from the past. All of this is put together to construct a film which, while possibly a bit overlong, has a mystery that does actually work in that it isn't too obvious where it's going and there are some decent red herrings sprinkled throughout.Lino Capolicchio leads the picture. Many of you will be familiar with him from his turn in Pupi Avati's stand-out giallo The House with Laughing Windows. He's an interesting leading man. He's doesn't have the machismo of a Franco Nero, or the shiftiness of a Tomas Milian nor is he as suave as Jean Sorel. He plays characters a little more nerdy, which isn't so common in giallo leading men. He's good and is definitely a good choice for this more serious minded example of the genre. His leading lady is Stefania Cassini, most famous for her turn in Suspiria. I find her really very attractive and a good enough actress. Unfortunately, like here, she is normally dubbed into English by voice actresses. This is a mistake, as anyone who has seen the cult movie Blood for Dracula can confirm she has a beautiful, extremely heavy Italian accent that sounds simply divine. Ah well! The other significant contribution is the music. Stelvio Cipriani is the named composer but seemingly the legendary prog-rock outfit Goblin were key collaborators. It does sound a little Goblinesque at times - though not as good as their usual output to be fair. Still, it's a good soundtrack overall.The Blood Stained Shadow is definitely recommended to giallo enthusiasts.

Tender-Flesh The Bloodstained Shadow is a later entry into the giallo genre. The film revolves around an unsolved murder from many years before the picture begins, leading to subsequent murders in a section of Venice. A college professor returns to the village to visit his brother, the local priest. Soon after arriving, the priest witnesses a murder but cannot identify the killer. This leads to séances, blackmail, and a film that is about 20 minutes too long.Unlike many giallo films, this one never becomes sleazy, though there is an extended nude scene at one point. The killer is not a "sex maniac" as is so often the case in these sorts of films. Rather, blackmail is a main plot point. There isn't much bloodshed, and even less stalking, though the director does manage to throw in some voyeurism, back alleys, gloved hands, and POV shots. Nothing to really recommend about the feature; it's a very average entry.Of passing interest is that Blue Underground DVD seems to have swiped a musical sample from this film's score and used it as their bumper music at the intro of any DVD they release. This is interesting since The Bloodstained Shadow was released on DVD by Anchor Bay.

The_Void Antonio Bido's previous foray into the Giallo sub genre, The Cat's Victims, was a rather messy and highly derivative affair, so I'm pleased to report that he's improved greatly for this follow-up. Typically for Giallo, The Blood-Stained Shadow features a convoluted plot, and unfortunately Bido's plot pacing can be a little off at times, as the film is painfully slow at some points, and then whimsically clever at others. Luckily, the director uses the atmosphere from the Venetian Island upon which the film is set well, and even during the 'down time', there is enough about the film to keep it ticking over in a pleasant manner. The plot starts with a shot of a dead body; a young girl whose murderer was never discovered. We pick up the plot some time later when a young man has returned to his home, which also happens to be the place where his brother, the local priest, lives. After having being told by his brother of all the immoral people in the town, a group which includes gamblers, perverts and con artists, the dead bodies begin to pile up. Is there a connection with the murder years earlier? The Cat's Victims was clearly very derivative of the great Dario Argento, and this film is too. The film isn't as well put together as the likes of Deep Red and Tenebrae, but Bido does a good job of imitating the superior director. The murder scenes are very well orchestrated and really quite nasty also; as we've got a man getting an axe through the heart, a woman having her head forced into a fire and other such gory highlights. The score by Stelvio Cipriani is a particular highlight, as the heavy tones suit the movie excellently and provide it with one of its strongest elements. Naturally with this kind of plot, it can be a little difficult to follow at times as random events occur at regular intervals; but Bido makes good of it by the end, as everything comes together in a way that makes sense and manages a genuine surprise for the audience. Overall, while The Blood-Stained Shadow isn't one of the heavyweight 'must see' films of the Giallo cycle, it has enough strongpoint's to ensure that it will be a point of interest for Giallo fans, and while the director has borrowed, perhaps even a little too much, seeing all the common Giallo elements in a film together is a treat. Recommended!

Bjorn (ODDBear) The Bloodstained Shadow, or, Solamente Nero is at best a fair giallo.It's got a lot of the giallo trademarks and some scenes that basically rip off other famous giallo's (most notably Deep Red and Don't Torture a Duckling) but it's terribly slow moving. What proves to be it's saving grace is a number of well executed set pieces, most of them involving horrific murders. Bido hasn't got the visual flair of Argento or Bava so what we basically have here is the story, which is longwinded, a bit obvious and with some annoying plot holes.The film builds suspense pretty well and the set pieces are great, but they're few and far between, leaving us with an uninteresting love story that's lacking any chemistry between the actors.By no means bad, simply average.